Store-service system



.(No Model.)

G. R. ELLIOTT.

STORE SERVICE SYSTEM. No. 279,862. Patented June 19,1883.

, UNI ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT R. ELLIOTT, OF. BOSTON, \IASSAGHUSETTS.

STORE-SERVICE SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,862, dated June 19,1883 I Application filed May 7 1883. (Nomodehl To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, GILBERT R. ELLIO T, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulStore-Service System, of which the following is a'spccification.

The object of my invention is to reduce the system of transporting cash,change, and ordinary packages between the salesmen, inspecting andpacking clerks, and cashier to a basis simpler in every respect than anyheretofore employed for this purpose.

My improwd system consists in a series of wires, each stretch'ed tautand level, extendi ng from the salesmans counter to the cashier s desk,an easily-running car or carrier for each wire, and two devices forarresting th e carrier one near one end and the other near the other endof the wire.

Heretofore, so far as Iam aware, the carriers in a store-service systemhave been propelled either by gravity or some mechanical devices. In thegravity systems double tracks, permanently inclined inoppositedirections, or a single track adapted to be inclined in eitherdirection, have been used. In the mechanical system the carriers havebeen propelled by endless ropes, by motors connected to the carriers,and by compressed air. My impror ed system is based on the discoveryfrom numerous experiments that a properly-constructed carrier can bereadily propelled on a level wire by a push of thehand, and in eitherdirection, to a distance greater than thatbetwcen a salescounter andcashiers desk in the largest store. I have experimented 011 distances upto two hundred feet without experiencing the least difficulty inpropelling the car or any failure of the car. to reach its destination.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my system as applied toa store having the cashiers desk and packing-counter at one end. Thisbest shows the extremes to which the system can be subjected, sincegenerally the desk and counters will be more conveniently located inrelation to each other.

Figure 1 is an elevation showing a wire extending from a sales-counterto the cashiers desk, with the carrier and the arresting-stops; and Fig.2 is a plan illustrating one arrangement of my system.

In Fig. 1, A is a salesmans counter. B is the cashiers desk, near whichis located-a counter, C, where the purchases are inspected and done upinto bundles. D is a wire secured 'at one end above the counter A, andat the other end above the cashiers desk B. This wire is strained to alevel by any of the wellknown appliances, such as the ordinaryturnbuckle attached near one end of the wire. By means of the strainingdevice any slack of the wire from. stretching may be readily taken up.Near each end of the wire D is secured an arresting-stop, (I, and a caror carrier, F, is suspended from the wire. The stop (I and car F may besuch as are described in my Patent No. 276,529, April 24, 1883, or ofany other suitable construction.

In Fig. 2 there area number of sales-counters, each marked A, and theother letters refer to the parts similarly marked in Fig. 1. All ofthewires are arranged and each provided with the stops-and a car as abovede scribed.

In operation the salesman places the money,

or themoney and the goods sold, in the car,

which he propels by apush of the hand to the inspectors counter. Theforce of the push is determined by the relative positions of thesalesman and the inspector, and soon becomes from practice mostaccurately proportioned to the distance. The inspector receives the car,passes the money to the cashier and the goods to the packer, and returnsthe goods, when packed, together with the changefif any, to the car,which he propels to the proper salesman by a push, as above stated.Checks or slips inclosed for the purpose indicate the car to which thedifferent parcels belong.

Among the many advantages arising from my improved system may beprominently mentioned the following: the simplicity of the system, nomechanism being required; the

facility with which it may be applied by merely stretching wires 5 thesmall space taken up, the wires being scarcely visible, and the cars, incertain lights, seeming to travel through the air; the entireunobstruction to light, and the adaptability of my system to storeswherethe height of the ceiling and lack of room will not admit of theusual complicated systems.

to movehorizontally, secured to said wire, in 1 combination with itcarrier adapted to be pro- IO pelled from one stop to the other ineither direction 011 the same Wire'by a push of the hand, as set forth.

GILBERT R. ELLIOTT.

\Vitnesses: i

G. B. MAYNADIER, J 01m R. SNOW.

